Chicken nests

Making nests for chickens with your own hands will significantly save the budget not only for a beginner, but also for an experienced farmer. During work, all requirements and rules should be followed so that the perches are comfortable and safe for the layers. It is also necessary to take into account the characteristics and needs of the farm and household. So how to make a nest for a laying hen with your own hands?

Chicken care rules

In order to breed chickens at home, you must fulfill the following requirements:

• build a poultry house;
• in the summer they make a place for walking;
• give birds a balanced diet;
• adhere to sanitary standards;
• observe the light regime, especially when the day becomes shorter and it gets dark early.

First of all, you need to take care of the arrangement of the chicken coop. For this, it is imperative to use only natural building materials. When performing work, they determine how many birds the foundation is laid on, since the room should be spacious. In addition, it must be insulated and take care of the installation of artificial lighting, which will extend the daylight hours for chickens.

Chicken nests

If it is warm in the hen house, the birds will fly, regardless of the season. A litter of straw, sawdust and hay is placed on the floor. This will create a thermal insulation of the floor, along with this, the natural instincts of birds will be preserved.

Roosts for chickens are made wide and spacious. The height of the perches is recommended to be about sixty centimeters. It is necessary to make gaps between perches and resting areas, thanks to which both hens and roosters can freely approach the place where they will spend the night.

In the poultry house, perches are an important aspect, where the hens will lay and incubate the chicks. The number of such places should correspond to the number of layers.

The barn must be completely ready before its inhabitants move in. It doesn't matter what age they will be. The younger the hens are, the sooner they will get used to the nests. You need to put a small paddock near the poultry house. It can be fenced with fishnet and other materials. The fence must be of sufficient height so that pets cannot fly over it. The proximity of the chicken coop to the aviary allows the birds to spend a long time in the fresh air and, if necessary, hide from the rain in time.

DIY box for laying hens

Before proceeding with the construction of a nest for laying hens, you need to follow some rules, thanks to which the further arrangement of the chicken coop will be facilitated:

1. The nest should be installed in shaded areas so that the sun's rays do not fall on it.
2. You must put bedding in the birdhouse. They put mainly straw or sawdust. Experienced farmers tend to choose sawdust, since this is the material chickens do not throw away.
3. The ball of bedding should be slightly below the sides. This is to prevent the eggs from falling to the floor.
4. During the construction of the perch, the bottom is best made of a net, on which the litter is subsequently laid. Thus, the litter will be constantly ventilated.
5. The place where the perches will be installed should be constantly dry and there should be no drafts.
6. Nests should not be firmly attached to the walls, as there is a possibility that the bird may catch a cold and the position of the perches will have to be changed.
7. Finished houses should be smooth and free of nails, as this can lead to bird injury.
8. The number of perches is calculated so that there is one nest for five chickens.

The simplest nest will be a regular box. Both plastic and plywood can be used for its manufacture. The only thing that needs to be understood is that the quality of such perches leaves much to be desired. In addition, they are placed on the ground, which will adversely affect the health of the layers. This also affects egg production.

DIY box for laying hens

To build a nest box, you must have the following materials on hand:

• Plywood or boards;
• Bar;
• Fasteners;
• Sandpaper;
• Jigsaw;
• Screwdriver;
• Hammer.

Step-by-step instructions for making a do-it-yourself chicken roost in the form of a box:

1. The material from which the perches will be made must be sanded;
2. All necessary workpieces of certain sizes are cut out. For this, the number of cells is calculated, then, having calculated the width of each of them, the length of the structure is determined. In this case, the number of tiers is determined in the same way.
3. All structural blanks are connected with nails.
4. At the corners inside the device, reinforcement is made with a bar.
5. An inlet for the roost is cut.
6. Be sure to make a nut so that it is convenient for the hens to enter the roost. It should protrude from under the perch by ten centimeters. Fasten it from the underside of the box along the entire length of the structure.
7. At a distance of ten centimeters, a platform is being built onto which the layers will take off.
8. If the perches are made in several tiers, then a ladder is attached to each of them.

Before proceeding with the device of the socket, you need to calculate its parameters. The size of the houses should be such that the hen can freely enter it and comfortably stay there. The optimal dimensions are 25x35x35 cm. Before constructing a structure, a drawing must be made, it will help to correctly distribute the material.

DIY chicken nests

When building nests that are comfortable for chickens, you need to make sure that they are comfortable for the farmer. Since he will have to clean them and collect eggs from the perches. There are several types of buildings for individual laying hens.

Simple

The simplest perch is the booth. You don't need experience to build it. The idea came to experienced farmers for a long time. It is very easy to install. The only upset is that there is no egg collector in it, and the hen can peck eggs. Still, this type is popular with poultry houses.

To make this design, the following materials and tools should be prepared:

• a leaf of wood, about a centimeter thick;
• 4 wooden blocks;
• jigsaw;
• file;
• self-tapping screws;
• screwdriver.

The nest must be 35 × 35 × 35 cm in size. In addition, it is imperative to determine how many cells must be built. If the hen house contains ten chickens, then it will be enough to make only three.

Manufacturing scheme:

1. The wood is processed with a file or emery paper so that there is no roughness;
2. Four pieces are cut out, measuring 35 × 35 cm. They will serve as walls for the nests.
3. A hole is cut in one of the squares, which should serve as the entrance to the nest. Be sure to take care of the nut.
4. After that, four beams of the same length are prepared.
5. All workpieces are fastened together with self-tapping screws. The bars serve as support for the walls.
6. The finished structure is examined to find out if there are any defects in it, which are immediately eliminated.
7. At the end, two more blanks are cut out for the floor and ceiling.

After that, the nest is fixed and lined with sawdust or straw. A ladder is attached to the nest. The chicken house is ready to receive a laying hen.

With egg collector

With egg collector

The most convenient to use and at the same time original and safe for chickens is a nest with an egg collector.

It is much more difficult to make, but at the same time it has a number of advantages:

• the safety of eggs from pecking by hens;
• easy collection of eggs.

The difference in the construction of a perch with an egg collector and a simple one is the bottom. It is done on a slope. In this case, the eggs roll down and through the hole fall into a special chute. The rest is done in the same way as the nest booth.

The instructions for the construction of a perch are as follows:

1. All necessary materials and tools are collected.
2. First of all, they collect the base. For this, the side walls are cut, the dimensions of which are 65 × 90 cm. The front wall should be 65 × 40 cm. At a height of thirty-five centimeters, a hole is made that will serve as an entrance. With the help of a bar, all these parts are connected to each other.
3. The next step is the preparation of the floor and ceiling. Their size should be 40 × 90 cm. The workpieces are also attached to the base using beams.
4. Then a pallet is made, on top of which a non-slip material is laid, and a lintel is placed.
5. The pallet is connected to the side walls.
6. After that, you should make a floor with a slope. It is raised above the main floor by no more than fifteen degrees. The slope should be 40 × 95 cm.
7. The main bottom is covered with sawdust and a floor with a slope is laid on top. It is advisable to fix it with self-tapping screws.
8. After that, the back wall is made. Its dimensions are 45 × 40 cm. As you can see, the back wall should be much shorter than the front one in order to form a hole into which the eggs will roll.
9. The wall is attached to the base, and the hole must be closed with soft material. It can be plain fabric or soft plastic.
10. Then the container is attached to collect the eggs. It can be plastic, or a small box is made from a wooden board.

A small amount of sawdust is placed in the nest, but in such a way that the egg rolls freely into a homemade egg container, which is located outside and, in turn, is covered with soft material.

Do-it-yourself chicken roost

There are times when there is no time to mess around with the construction of a perch for chickens for a long time. Therefore, the entrance will go to all suitable materials that are at hand. A regular vegetable drawer may work. They just put the bedding in it, hang the curtain, and the roost is ready.

But at the same time, you need to make sure that the box is made of durable material and can support the weight of the chicken. After all, this perch will need to be hung, securing only on one side. To make the place for laying hens reliable, additional fasteners are also used. To do this, take a nylon cord and attach it to the wall above the box.

Do-it-yourself chicken roost

How to train a chicken to nest

If additional nests were installed in the hen house, and the chickens refuse to rush in them, the following measures must be taken:

• Make a dummy egg and put it in a new nest;
• Close the chicken overnight in the new roost;
• Do not give the hen the opportunity to rush to the old place;
• Put some fluff in the new nest.

Chalk or limestone can serve as a fake. The hen will sit down to lay in most cases where the eggs are already. The fluff will also serve as a call for the chicken to the nest. If these methods do not help, you need to find out why the chickens refuse to lay in new places.

It is not so difficult to build a structure. The main thing is to decide in advance on the type of nest and install it correctly in the chicken coop.